Long Island community in shock after son accused of stabbing his own mother to death
DEER PARK, N.Y. -- There is no known motive for a frightful crime on Long Island. Police say a son is in custody for murdering his mother.
It was a dramatic scene in Deer Park within a ransacked home. As CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reported Wednesday, the suspect was on the front lawn covered in blood when police arrived.
Adjacent to a favorite neighborhood gathering spot, Geiger Park, is a two-family home on West 23rd Street that was the unsettling and tragic scene of a suspected matricide -- a son killing his own mother.
"She is 54 years of age, on the floor, covered in blood, and she sustained several stab wounds, so the officers placed Mr. Cabral under arrest," Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said.
Police have identified the son, now in custody, as 33-year-old Gabriel Cabral of Brooklyn, a packaging designer. Deer Park neighbors said they heard screaming early Wednesday morning and called 911. What's telling is this was not the first time the victim had cried out for help.
"The lady was running about 5 o'clock in the morning, was shouting, 'Help! Help! Help!' The shoe of the woman, I think, is still there right now," a neighbor named Charles said.
Neighbors said they believe the shoe belonged to the victim, who lost it last week when seeking refuge from her son. They are now checking home security video.
"They said they heard screaming and we should check our cameras," a neighbor said.
"We don't have any history of calls at this location regarding domestic violence," Harrison said.
Homeowners in the well-kept neighborhood said they are unnerved at the disturbing and sad circumstances, especially with homicide units roaming their streets.
"It looked like a crime scene when my daughter was on the way to the train early this morning," a neighbor said.
"Oh my God, I saw the cops, everybody, going in there and I knew something drastic must have happened," another neighbor said.
Police said Cabral, the accused son, is active on social media, and will be arraigned in a Suffolk County courtroom on Thursday on the charges of murdering his mother.